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Researcher working on destruction of chemical weapons
September 25, 2008America's war on terror includes fighting the dark side of deadly chemical agents, and Texas A&M University chemist Dr. Frank Raushel is helping with the fight by developing an enzyme that might neutralize one such chemical agent, the organophosphates.
Synthetic organophosphates started their journey as insecticides in the 1930s but soon made their way into the dangerous alleys of chemical warfare during World War II. Raushel, who has been working on detoxification of organophosphates for nearly 10 years, says that the toxic properties of the organophosphate nerve agents are a serious threat to the health and well being of civilized societies.
Although outlawed by several international treaties, some countries have used chemical agents during times of war. In 1988, the Iraqi Kurdish village of Halabja was exposed to multiple chemical agents, killing about 5,000 of the town's 50,000 residents. After the incident, traces of mustard gas and the organophosphates sarin, tabun and VX were discovered.
Raushel, the Davidson Professor of Science at Texas A&M, has been awarded a four-year grant of $1.2 million by the National Institutes of Health to carry out his work on organophosphates.
Organophosphates are neurotoxins - they attack the nervous system by blocking the function of the enzyme acetylcholine esterase, which carries nerve signals. When organs such as the lungs do not receive appropriate nerve signals, control is lost over respiratory muscles, and it usually results in death by asphyxiation. Today, some classes of organophosphates are used as insecticides while others have been categorized as chemical weapons.
Researchers have discovered a bacterial enzyme, phosphotriesterase, which can recognize and destroy the toxicity of a broad spectrum of organophosphate nerve agents. What Raushel aims to do is design and characterize bacterial phosphotriesterases that are better at detecting, destroying and detoxifying those organophosphates that pose the most serious threats to human health.
Texas A&M University
Raushel, the Davidson Professor of Science at Texas A&M, has been awarded a four-year grant of $1.2 million by the National Institutes of Health to carry out his work on organophosphates.
Organophosphates are neurotoxins - they attack the nervous system by blocking the function of the enzyme acetylcholine esterase, which carries nerve signals. When organs such as the lungs do not receive appropriate nerve signals, control is lost over respiratory muscles, and it usually results in death by asphyxiation. Today, some classes of organophosphates are used as insecticides while others have been categorized as chemical weapons.
Researchers have discovered a bacterial enzyme, phosphotriesterase, which can recognize and destroy the toxicity of a broad spectrum of organophosphate nerve agents. What Raushel aims to do is design and characterize bacterial phosphotriesterases that are better at detecting, destroying and detoxifying those organophosphates that pose the most serious threats to human health.
Texas A&M University
Organophosphates Current Events and Organophosphates News RSSPesticides exposure linked to suicidal thoughts
A new study in China has found that people with higher levels of pesticide exposure are more likely to have suicidal thoughts.
Common household pesticides linked to childhood cancer cases in Washington area
A new study by researchers at the Georgetown's Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center finds a higher level of common household pesticides in the urine of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), a cancer that develops most commonly between three and seven years of age.
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Motor neuron disease is a rare, devastating illness in which nerve cells that carry brain signals to muscles gradually deteriorate. One form of it, Lou Gehrig's disease or ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), is familiar to the public in the lives of scientist Stephen Hawking and Morrie Schwartz, about whom Mitch Albom's "Tuesdays with Morrie" was written.
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Mosquito spray increases toxicity of pyrethroids in creek, study finds
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Variations in detoxifying genes linked to Lou Gehrig's disease
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Four out of five head lice resistant to common treatment
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Study of Latina women and children finds large variation in susceptibility to pesticides
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The 2006-2011 World Outlook for Lawn and Garden Organo-Phosphate Preparations b WHAT IS LATENT DEMAND AND THE P.I.E.? The concept of latent demand is rather subtle. The term latent typically refers to something that is dormant, not observable, or not yet realized. Demand is the notion of an economic quantity that a target population or market requires under different assumptions of price, quality, and distribution, among other factors. Latent demand, therefore, is commonly defined by economists as the industry earnings of a market when that market becomes accessible and attractive to serve by competing firms. It is a measure, therefore, of potential industry earnings (P.I.E.) or total revenues (not profit) if a market is served in an efficient manner. It is typically expressed as the total revenues potentially extracted by firms. The “market” is defined at... |
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QuickBayt Fly Bait - 350 gm by Quickbayt QuickBayt Fly Baitis specially formulated to quickly and effectively control files around the outside of commercial facilities, dairies, horse stables, production facilities. QuickBayt Fly Bait may also be mixed with water and used to paint on to surfaces where flies rest. Effective against flies resistant to organophosphates and carbamates. Contains .5% Imidacloprid. Tests have shown Imidicloprid kills many times more flies than standard fly baits, plus works in less than sixty seconds and lasts up to four weeks. Do not place in areas accessible to animals or children. |
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The impact of aerial application of organophosphates on the cholinesterase levels of rural residents in the Vaalharts district, Northern Cape Province, ... [An article from: Environmental Research] by M.A. Dalvie (Author), L. London (Author) This digital document is a journal article from Environmental Research, published by Elsevier in 2006. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser. Description: A cluster of Guillaine-Barre syndrome cases in the Vaalharts region, South Africa prompted an investigation of the impact of aerial organophosphate spraying on cholinesterase levels of residents in the region. A prospective study of cholinesterase levels among residents and workers in the area and a control area was performed. Standardized red blood cell cholinesterase levels amongst participants were monitored before (round 1), during (round 2), and after (round 3) the 1996/1997 aerial spraying season.... |
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Organophosphate inhibition of an arylesterase from Lumbricus terrestris and reversal by pralidoxime [An article from: Soil Biology and Biochemistry] by A.P. Moon (Author), T.J. Smith (Author) This digital document is a journal article from Soil Biology and Biochemistry, published by Elsevier in 2005. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser. Description: Several enzymes of xenobiotic metabolism have been identified in soil annelids. Their roles in the physiology and ecotoxicology of the organism are diverse and may parallel those found in mammalian species. Among these are the arylesterases. An arylesterase assayed by hydrolysis of p-nitrophenylacetate was identified in Lumbricus terrestris. This arylesterase appears to be a serine esterase, since it is sensitive to inhibition by metrifonate. This mechanism of inhibition is similar to that of... |
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The 2006-2011 World Outlook for Organo-Phosphate Preparations of Agricultural and Commercial Insecticides b WHAT IS LATENT DEMAND AND THE P.I.E.? The concept of latent demand is rather subtle. The term latent typically refers to something that is dormant, not observable, or not yet realized. Demand is the notion of an economic quantity that a target population or market requires under different assumptions of price, quality, and distribution, among other factors. Latent demand, therefore, is commonly defined by economists as the industry earnings of a market when that market becomes accessible and attractive to serve by competing firms. It is a measure, therefore, of potential industry earnings (P.I.E.) or total revenues (not profit) if a market is served in an efficient manner. It is typically expressed as the total revenues potentially extracted by firms. The “market” is defined at... |
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Nonenzymatic functions of acetylcholinesterase splice variants in the developmental neurotoxicity of organophosphates: chlorpyrifos, chlorpyrifos oxon, ... from: Environmental Health Perspectives by Ruth R. Jameson (Author), Frederic J. Seidler (Author), Theodore A. Slotkin (Author) This digital document is an article from Environmental Health Perspectives, published by Thomson Gale on January 1, 2007. The length of the article is 6570 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser. Citation Details Title: Nonenzymatic functions of acetylcholinesterase splice variants in the developmental neurotoxicity of organophosphates: chlorpyrifos, chlorpyrifos oxon, and diazinon.(Research) Author: Ruth R. Jameson Publication: Environmental Health Perspectives (Magazine/Journal) Date: January 1, 2007 Publisher: Thomson Gale Volume: 115 Issue: 1 Page: 65(6) Distributed... | |
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